


You Are Not One of Us

by Jassmine



Series: The Starling and the Rake [7]
Category: Mansfield Park (1999), Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Genre: Absent Parents, Character Study, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Family, Family Issues, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Introspection, Relationship Study, Self Confidence Issues, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24114571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jassmine/pseuds/Jassmine
Summary: Tom Bertram was just seventeen and Fanny a child of ten and he didn’t really payed her that much attention when there were so many more interesting subjects – horses, gambling and drinking for starters.Maria loves her aunt better than anyone else in the world.When Fanny is playing with them Maria’s attention is always on her, telling her what to do, lecturing her. Julia feels a little bad about it, but she is free to do what she wants and for that feeling it’s worth it.Fanny isn’t the only person in the family that has problems. Bertam siblings are pretty messed up too. They don’t treat Fanny fairly, but I think they deserve some defence and character dimension.
Relationships: Fanny Price & Julia Bertram, Fanny Price & Maria Bertram, Fanny Price & Tom Bertram, Maria Bertram & Mrs. Norris
Series: The Starling and the Rake [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726675
Kudos: 13





	You Are Not One of Us

**Author's Note:**

> Please note, that English isn't my first language and I don't have a beta. So, I will be glad for all your suggestions and comments on grammar (or whatever else you feel like commenting).
> 
> Reading Mansfield Park only in English was too big a bite for me. So, I picked up Czech translation and I am always reading it after reading the English chapter. That means that I read the first six chapters again and I found there a lot of the new material to think about. Now I can hopefully finally move forward.

Tom Bertram didn’t have the gentle nature of his younger brother. But he was no less kind, he just expressed his affection differently. He laughed at his little cousin frequently – in the same manner he laughed at his sisters – and made her some pretty presents – maybe a little less fine than for Maria and Julia, but that was because he knew that the gesture was enough for Fanny, that anything of a greater value would make her cry with gratitude (She cried almost every time anyway). That being said he was just seventeen and Fanny a child of ten and he didn’t really payed her that much attention when there were so many more interesting subjects – horses, gambling and drinking for starters. There wasn’t anything personal in his disinterest, he was just a rich teenage boy and we really can’t expect much from him.

* * *

Maria loves her aunt better than anyone else in the world. Her mother never payed her any attention and her father is always so cold and distant caring only about her education and accomplishments. It was her dear aunt who listened to her when she needed an advice or to talk. It was her aunt who helped her to get anything she wanted. Only her aunt Norris ever cared about Maria’s opinions and needs. And Maria trusted her with all her heart.

So, when Aunt Norris told her Fanny Price isn’t her equal, she accepted it. And when she told her that Fanny was plain and stupid, she believed her. And when Maria saw that Fanny cannot put the map of Europe together, cannot tell the principal rivers in Russia, never heard of Asia Minor and on top of that does not know the difference between water-colours and crayons, her poor opinion on her little cousin decreased even more. When she told her aunt about all Fanny’s shortcomings, she explained to her that there is vast deal of difference between her and Fanny’s abilities. And Maria stopped to care about Fanny at all, because really, she was not worth the attention.

* * *

Julia secretly liked it, when Fanny played with them. She loved Maria of course, but she was also her rival. Being one year older made Maria in her own eyes superior in everything and when she was in certain mood there was no sense in contradicting her or saying anything really. Maria always goes first, she is the more popular one, more loved one, more beautiful one, more accomplished one… Sometimes Julia feels there really isn’t any point in trying to be better, because Maria will be the best anyway.

With Fanny it isn’t like that… she is plain and simple for sure (everybody is saying that, so why it shouldn’t be the truth?). But she is also quiet, and kind and she never tried to boss Julia around. She does what she is told never arguing with either of them, and Maria loves that. When Fanny is playing with them Maria’s attention is always on her, telling her what to do, lecturing her. Julia feels a little bad about it, but she is free to do what she wants and for that feeling it’s worth it.

All her life Julia feels like Maria’s shadow – it’s really selfish of her to want to be more than that, more than an afterthought. To be seen as herself instead of being seen as a second daughter, second in everything. Maria is her best friend after all, so she shouldn’t hold such things against her. But she can’t help herself, staying beside plain and stupid Fanny she feels visible for once.

**Author's Note:**

> I really liked the short mention of Tom’s behaviour toward Fanny in Chapter II and I wanted to give him some credit. I also wanted to give Julia some character because so far, she is Maria’s clone. And then I just had to write Maria too for this to be complete. She was the hardest to write of them because she is written so negatively in the book… But I think that she is much more complicated.


End file.
